Git, explained like a human

Deleted a branch — locally, on GitHub, or both — and need it back? The commits almost certainly still exist. Here's where they went and how to get them back.

Force-pushed and wiped commits off GitHub? They're very likely still recoverable — if you move before GitHub's garbage collector does. Here's how.

Every way to undo a git commit — keep the changes, drop the changes, or undo a commit you already pushed — and how to pick the right one.

Merged the wrong branch, or merged way too early? How to undo a git merge — whether it's still local, already pushed, or still sitting there conflicted.

Rebased onto the wrong base, mangled an interactive rebase, or pushed a rebase you regret? The reflog remembers where your branch was — here's how to go back.

Just watched git reset --hard eat your work? Committed work is almost always recoverable through the reflog. Uncommitted work is grimmer — here's the honest version of both.

Committed something that shouldn't be in the PR — a debug file, a wrong change, a commit meant for another branch? Two ways to get it out, and when each is right.

A .env full of secrets, a 300MB binary, a build artifact that never should've been committed — how to purge a file from every commit with git filter-repo.

Committed a password, API key, or token to git? Rotate it first, then scrub the history with git filter-repo — including the GitHub support step almost every guide skips.

Turn 'wip', 'fix', and 'actually fix this time' into one clean commit — with interactive rebase, GitHub's squash merge, or a pull request that does it for you.

The fix landed on main, but your release branch needs it too. How to cherry-pick a PR onto another branch — and how to see the conflicts coming before you're in them.

Committed work onto main that belonged on a feature branch — and maybe pushed it too. Move it with cherry-pick, then clean up the wrong branch the safe way.

About to rebase, reset, or let an AI agent loose on your repo? Spend thirty seconds on an undo point first. Future you says thanks.

What reset, revert, rebase, cherry-pick, reflog and friends actually do — explained like a coworker would, not like a man page.